Friday, March 11, 2016

For the eagle-eyed amongst us

As
promised here is the Gloria Lynne 45 that the eagle-eyed Ravel
spotted in the pictures in my last post that featured my most recent little 45
haul.

Gloria
Mia Wilson was born in Harlem in 1929. Her NY Times obituary tells us
she took a male friend's name, who would become her husband –
Alleyne – as a stage name in the Fifties, but soon shortened it to
Lynne, after so many presenters had trouble pronouncing Alleyne.

Gloria
initially sung in groups including the Dell Tones, The Enchanters, and The
Dorsey Sisters. Her solo career started sometime around 1958. At
least one single was released under her birth name, on Dawn records,
but her career really took off under the name Gloria Lynne when she
was signed to Everest Records. Between 1958 and 1970 – her most
active period – she then had numerous 45 and album releases, and
toured with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, and Billy Eckstine,
Although typically labelled a Jazz vocalist her repertoire extended
to Jazz, R&B, Soul and lush Pop arrangements, and her songs were
often difficult to categorise. She had a fine voice and didn't really
get the full recognition, or lasting recording breaks she deserved.
The NY Times obit recounts unscrupulous management, and this coupled
with changing musical tastes meant the Seventies would prove a low
point for her. Later her career would revive and she moved into more
pure Jazz circles and toured and performed with Jazz luminaries such
as Quincy Jones.

It seems
that Gloria Lynne had at least two 45 releases on the Seeco label,
which were in the middle of her run of Everest releases. I'm not sure
what the story is behind these Seeco 45s (incidentally Dawn, where
Gloria made one of early 45 outings, it seems was a subsidiary label
of Seeco), they do seem to be fairly obscure, possibly recorded prior
to her Everest hook up and released in an attempt to cash in on her
growing reputation.

I'm not
sure which is the A side here, all I know is I'm Not Afraid
Anymore is a great jump blues / R&B number and the
stronger side to my mind. I have seen Is There Someone For Me
listed as the A side though, which is quite possible, it is a much
more pop slanted ballad and might have had more chart potential at
the time, Gloria certainly lifts it above the average.

3 comments:

I'm a bit late to thank you for this ! I come here once a week... These are really 2 sides of Lynne ! She came to my attention with a song named «Speaking of Happiness» and since then, I adore her. I feel she didn't record anything bad. You wrote: «She had a fine voice and didn't really get the full recognition, or lasting recording breaks she deserved.» I agree: her voice is really special.Thanks again ! Cool find !

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